Paul Hester of Crowded House Found Dead

March 29, 2005 03:18:44 GMT

The drummer of 1980s Australian rock band Crowded House hanged himself in a park near his house in southern Australia

Paul Hester, drummer of Crowded House, one of Australia's most successful bands in the late 1980s and early 1990s, committed suicide in Melbourne, Australia. The 46 years old man was last seen out walking his two dogs on Friday night before in the next day his body was found hanging from a tree in Elsternwick Park located near his house in southern Australia. At this moment the police claim Hester death a suicide the result of strangulation, and no foul play is suspected.

Despite that fact, a report in Australian daily The Age indicated Hester may have been suffering from clinical depression and had also just broken off an engagement to Kiwi singer Kashan in December 2004. No word whether he left behind a suicide note.

Commenting this incident, Crowded House's former frontman Neil Finn told Australia's The Daily Telegraph from London where he's currently touring with brother Tim Finn, "I am devastated. I have lost one of my best mates."